Emperor’s Domination

"What is that place?" Jian Ming asked.

"Open!" Xiao Xuan shouted and increased the power of the dao laws, prompting them to pulse with a strange light.

The mirror-like plate started shining where Xiao Xuan wished it to. Visual phenomena emerged and were filtered by the mirror. They disappeared without a trace after being eliminated.

After a while, a phenomenon finally left behind a mark with a mystical rhythm. It seemed to have a heartbeat of its own.

She raised one finger and sucked up all the light from the mirror. Everything turned into darkness as she returned to the past.

Jian Ming and the daoist couldn't see a damn thing after her act. Nonetheless, they noticed her aura disappearing even though she was still nearby. They wouldn't be able to touch her now.

"Young Noble, what is going on?" Jian Ming hurriedly asked.

Li Qiye glanced in her direction and said: "This is a mark of memory for tracing purposes. Only extremely powerful cultivators can leave these behind for themselves."

"Would it work through reincarnation?" The daoist has heard something similar before.

"As long as you're strong enough to leave one, you'll be able to get some memory back." Li Qiye said.

"Isn't that the same as rebirth then." Jian Ming said: "A second life while retaining memories, that's heaven-defying, especially for someone as strong as her. She was already unbeatable in her previous life, she'll reach a new height this time around."

Being able to be reborn with memory was frightening. It was akin to being undying on top of gaining more experiences and resources each time. A being capable of this would reach an insane level.

"It's just a fantasy." Li Qiye said: "It's virtually impossible to live again and to do so with memory intact, that's prohibitively difficult. A rebirth will have flaws, one must pay a price to go against the heaven."

"Over there!" Xiao Xuan returned to their current dimension and pointed forward. The duo could sense her once more.

"Lady, did you get your memory back?" Jian Ming became curious while staring at her.

He imagined her with all of her memories back and wondered if her mood would be even fouler.

"What memory?" She glared at him.

He heaved a sigh of relief and smiled: "From your previous self."

"No." She shook her head and said: "But I saw a path, seemingly one that leads to home."

"Do you remember what you left behind after seeing the mark?" He inquired again.

"Not yet, I know how to find it now." She responded.

"That's great." He nodded.

"Let's go take a look then." Li Qiye interjected.

"Yes! Let's go to see the lady's hidden ultimate item!" Jian Ming became excited after hearing this.

He has been itching all this time because she was so strong. Something left behind by her should be wondrous.

***

Sky's Demise City was situated on the outskirt of Worldbreaker. Numerous cultivators from all over Eight Desolaces gathered here. Some even started their own sect.

It wasn't a conventional city but rather, a general area encompassing all the enclaves surrounding Worldbreaker. It could be an established city or one built in the mountain range, a village, or a tiny town…

All in all, anywhere outside of Worldbreaker with inhabitants, whether populous or otherwise, would be considered a part of Sky's Demise.

Many eras ago, this place used to be desolate. Later on, more cultivators came and founded sects, resulting in the current landscape.

The group saw buildings and huts everywhere. Smoke from kitchen stoves could be seen. The inhabitants came to learn the dao of the fist while not wanting to turn into slaves. All in all, they weren't willing to give up and decided to take roots here.

The population continued to grow. Sky's Demise didn't belong to any other great power. Because of this, it served as a safe haven for those hiding from enemies or merchants wanting free trading. Some merely visited out of curiosity…

A sect of note was Golden Gate. Its founder was none other than Golden Fist Emperor. Given his talents and family background, he should have been the lord of Golden City.

Alas, his love for the dao of the fist changed the trajectory of his life. Perhaps this calling stemmed from his bloodline, being the descendant of Ye Zuodao.

Others wanted nothing more than to inherit the legacy of Golden City. In his case, he left without ever looking back. He abandoned his previous merit laws and focused on the dao of the fist only. This obsession granted him success.

Though Golden Gate didn't have the same level of foundation and resources compared to the behemoths, it wasn't weaker than most great powers due to his presence.

Normally, the sect didn't have dealings with other powers due to its remote location. Moreover, it had no ambition of increasing its territory.

This changed recently with more guests arriving from the strongest sects around. Rumor has it that even True Immortal Sect wanted a marriage alliance with Golden Gate. This naturally surprised all listeners.